Finding Family

Chapter 8

 My knuckles were beginning to hurt from banging on the door. "NATE GET UP!" I called. "I'm going to be late!" Finally a groggy Ben answered the door. I had to tear my eyes from his shirtless chest.

"Amy, it's Saturday, the one day I get to sleep in, why are you banging on the door at 7 AM."

"Is Nate here?"

"No, why?

"He promised to drive me! I'm going to be late, and miss my warm up run, and Spartan will get spooked!" I tried to calm down but I was in complete panic mode. Qualifiers started in an hour and if I missed then I'd never make it to state. They said they'd come watch if it was state. I felt tear well up in my eyes and couldn't bare the thought of crying in front of Ben again, so I started to run away towards the girl's dorm.

"Hey Amy woah, hold up. Where are you going?"

"To Peyton's room to either find Nate, or ask her to drive me."

"Drive you..."

"To qualifiers for jumping."

"Well I'll take you. I'll just grab a shirt and meet you at the car." He took off to his room before I could say anything. We got in the car and he started to drive. I remembered that I'd wanted to ask Nate about Sabrina. I figured I could ask Ben too.

"Hey Ben, I over heard Sabrina talking about who she used to be and not wanting to go back to that, what's she talking about."

Ben slammed on the breaks. "She said what? You have to tell me what happened? Did she do anything weird? Did she seem scared or devastated about something?"

"Woah Ben keep driving. She didn't seem weird at all, what's going on? Please fill me in, I'm missing something."

"Alright. It was about two weeks into freshman year. We didn't really know Sabrina yet. Hell didn't really know anyone yet, but Sabrina was a little different. She had, literally no friends. She and Peyton were roommates, but Sabrina avoided Peyton at all costs. If Peyton sat with her at a meal she'd get up and move to another table. So one day Nate accidentally walked into the girls bathroom."

I giggled a little. "What does that have to do with Sabrina?"

"Well I know you're thinking that's just typical Nate embarrassing himself, but when he got in he found Sabrina on the ground with an empty pill bottle. He carried her out of the room and over to campus security. He insisted on staying with her for the ambulance ride and was at the hospital with her all weekend. I'd bring him food and clothes. Every time I walked into the room they'd be talking really seriously, but then get really quiet. I tried to make her laugh while I was there. The school wouldn't let us miss to be there, so we'd take turns after school. Nate helped her work through her anxiety and depression. I took her the next step and taught her how to have fun. When she came back to school two weeks later we sat with her at meals. She apologized to Peyton for being rude, and they soon became close. Within the next two months both couples started going out and never stopped."

"Wow, I had no idea..." Just then my phone rang. "Hello?"

"Ames, I am so sorry. I totally forgot, I can't believe I did this to you."

"Nate, it's okay. Ben's driving me."

"I'll meet you there. I won't miss a second of the competition I promise!"

I smiled and hung up. We pulled into the ring and Ben parked.

"Thank you so much for taking me. I'll, um see you at school."

"No freaking way am I leaving. I already drove out here. I want to meet the famous Spartan, and see what you've got."

"Okay, I guess I'll see you in there." I tried to contain my excitement. I didn't understand why I was so excited. I mean, Ben's so cool, why would he be so interested in watching me compete? I took a deep breath and entered the stables to saddle Spartan.